UPDATE: The race director has released a statement explaining the safety car situation, which caused confusion before the race was stopped:
“We have had very difficult conditions here today, so we started behind the safety car and at about the 17th lap, as a routine check, we asked the safety car how it is on fuel.
“By our standards, the safety car was low on fuel, so we did something which is part of our procedures and replaced the primary safety car with the second safety car so that at any moment we are able to start the race.
“We sent the second safety car on track, they changed positions, and the main safety car came into the pits.
“Once the safety car was refuelled, we informed the second safety car that we were going to change as we did the first time, but unfortunately, somewhere in the communications, the second safety car understood that it was meant to come into the pits.”
The 2025 edition of Lone Star Le Mans has been red-flagged after 58 minutes of running under safety car in heavy rain at CoTA.
The stoppage came shortly after a confusing sequence in the Hypercar category, which saw the majority of the field incorrectly follow the leading safety car into the pit lane before what appeared to be a planned safety car swap.
WEC TV reported that it was because the first safety car needed fuel and that there was miscommunication between race control and the teams.
This shuffled the order, and saw the #36 Alpine – one of five cars in Hypercar that haven’t yet pitted – take the lead of the race with Frederic Makowiecki at the wheel. The pole-sitting #83 Ferrari is down to second, with the #95 United Autosports LMGT3 McLaren out of position in third overall. The #51 Ferrari is fourth overall with the #6 Porsche fifth.
Race control posted a message just before the red flag telling everyone to not follow Safety Car B into the pit lane. “SCA is the main SC,” it continued.
In LMGT3, the #95 United McLaren, one of two cars in the class that hasn’t stopped for fuel, leads. The #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, which also stayed out, is second. The #81 Corvette is third. Meanwhile, two Fords that locked out the front row, are down to 14th and 15th after their stops.
“We didn’t understand what was going on, and we are P1. We may see a revert; we are not sure. All the drivers are reporting that it’s not safe enough to drive in Hypercar, so it’s the right decision.
We’re not sure what’s going to happen as we think more rain may be coming,” #36 Alpine driver Jules Gounon told WEC TV.
Under safety car in the heavy rain, there were a handful of dramas despite there being no green flag running.
The biggest moment concerned the #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, which stopped on track with what BMW has reported as an “isolation problem in the hybrid system”. It has retired after Rene Rast was forced to abandon the car.
The #87 Lexus has also spent more than 10 minutes in the garage for repairs to its front-end lighting system. Iron Lynx’s #61 Mercedes has also been in the garage for work after pitting with apparent front splitter damage.
The race is set to resume at 14:40 local, according to the most recent race control message.
